


Kaleidoscope of Stars

by CosmicFaeryWings



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Family, Happy ending though, Trouble In Paradise, We all know what angara are like when it comes to family, it is a jaal/fem ryder fic, lots of family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 09:58:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15861339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicFaeryWings/pseuds/CosmicFaeryWings
Summary: Sara's angaran boyfriend - he who freely shouts his feelings from the roof tops - is not talking to her and refuses to let her into her tech lab.And, she has another dinner with his family to think about.





	Kaleidoscope of Stars

**Author's Note:**

> So... I haven't posted anything for, well... forever.   
> This was written while I ate my lunch and tried to stop my dog stealing my food.   
> It has also not been editted, so please be kind.  
> Pretty please.
> 
> Kudos greatly appreciated.  
> Comments and constructive criticisms even more so.  
> Enjoy!!!!

Standing on the bridge of the Tempest, Sara looked out through the cockpit window. Stars littered the empty void; millions of tiny lanterns that illuminated the eternal darkness for as far as the eye could see. And somewhere beyond them all was Havarl, her destination. She had been there several times before, twice to visit Jaal’s family. This was her third visit… and she was more nervous than she had been on her first. Why? Because Jaal had locked himself away for the past week and a half, refusing to let her even enter the tech lab. He seemed his normal self while they were out on missions – clearing out random pockets of kett and roekaar – but once they were back on the ship he became distant, saying no more than a word or two to her before retreating to his ‘room’. Perhaps it was some angaran thing she didn’t know about. It would make sense: there was plenty she didn’t know about the race, but she was learning. But if that were the case, wouldn’t he have said something to her?

“Entering Faroang System,” Kallo announced, cutting into her thoughts.

Sara stood where she was a minute or to longer, then stepped back from the window. “I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me.”

Leaving the bridge, she descended to the ship’s lower deck. Her room is down there, directly below the bridge; the window offering almost the exact same view. It is a view she has always found comforting, even on the darkest of days. The peace portrayed was nothing but mere illusion, she knew that. But there was something reassuring about knowing that – no matter what might happen – some things would always be.

“We are approaching Havarl, Sara,” SAM stated.

“I know,” Sara told the AI, quietly. “But… thank you.”

Glancing at her bed on the way, she couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t have many clothes – there really wasn’t any need for an extensive wardrobe when you lived on a ship and spent your days scouting hostile planets – but they were all lying on it. Save for what she was wearing. She had tried on everything, multiple times and in a variety of combinations. In the end she had settled for loose fitting khaki trousers, a cream vest top and khaki canvas pumps. Her long brown hair was twisted into a loose bun at the back of her head.

**-x-**

Looking around, Sara realised that Jaal had vanished once again. Of course, it was crowded at the house – as it had been the two other times she had been there – and she could have simply overlooked him among his siblings and cousins, but she had searched the room several times.

“Lathoul?” she called out, getting the attention of one of Jaal’s brothers when she same him passing nearby. “Have you seen Jaal? I can’t find him anywhere.”

“I believe he was heading to his room,” Lathoul replied, stopping on his way to… wherever it was he had been heading. “If he’s not there, you could try outside. He always did like this time of the day best, when the stars first start becoming visible to the naked eye.”

Sara smiled, thanked him for his help and then stepped outside. She searched for a while, but there was no sign of Jaal anywhere. He could, perhaps, have gone further into the jungle but she didn’t want to stray too far from the house. She didn’t yet know this area well and the air was already beginning to turn cold.

“Did you find him?” Lathoul asked when he next saw her again, some ten to fifteen minutes after he had last spoken to her.

“I think he’s avoiding me,” she replied, forcing herself to laugh as she kept her gaze focused on one of the plants growing just outside the house.

Lathoul draped an arm around her shoulders, offering support. He knew she was wrong about Jaal, but he also knew that words alone were not going to convince her. Besides, it was not his place to intrude on their personal affairs. Any problems – or perceived problems – were for them to sort out. The family would only step in _if_ the mothers deemed it necessary.

Such intervention rarely happened.

**-x-**

Leaving his room, Jaal went to find Sara. He found her sitting on the floor with some of the younger members of his family, playing what he could only imagine was a children’s card game.

“Sara?” he said. “Could I steal you away for a moment?”

“I’m busy!” Sara stated, not bothering to look up. “Speak to me later!”

Jaal sighed heavily. “You are angry?”

“What did you expect? You lock me out of _my_ tech lab for days, and barely speak to me! You bring me here… and then disappear without any explanation! How the… How did you think I was going to react?”

“Sara?” Jaal said softly. “Taoshay. I am sorry. If you will allow me, I would like to explain now.”

Telling the children to carry on the game without her, Sara got to her feet and followed Jaal to his room. She tried to ignore the thoughts that were going through her mind, but she couldn’t quite rid herself of the niggling doubts that had settled at the back of her mind.

She followed him into the room and automatically took a seat on the bed, watching Jaal as he locked the door. A familiar thrill snatched at her breath, and for a second she hated herself for wanting him so badly.

Jaal joined her on the bed and took her hand. “You are my world, Taoshay. When I am with you, everything seems right, as though that is how things are supposed to be… as though that first meeting on Aya was destiny and not just some random coincidence. You are passionate and strong and courageous, and…” he smiled mischievously. “And my mothers agree that you would make a fine addition to the family.”

“You sound like you want to stick me in the repository on Aya,” Sara laughed.

“From what I gather there is supposed to be a ring,” Jaal continued. “Unfortunately, such things are difficult to come by here. I hope this might do instead.”

Releasing her hand, Jaal stood and walked to the other side of the room. As he dimmed the lights, Sara tried to take in what she was seeing. Stars surrounded her. Constellations she knew and recognised. Ursa Major (the Great Bear) Cygnus (the Swan) Lupus (the Wolf) and various others. Now, she understood why she had been locked out of the tech lab, and why Jaal had been seemed keen to get away from her.  

“I… it’s breathtaking,” she whispered, wiping away a tear. “Thank you. I don’t know what else to say.”

Moving back to the bed, Jaal pulled Sara to her feet. One hand slipped around her waist to rest on the small of her back. The other tucked under her chin, lifting her head.

“So…?” he asked.

Sara looked up at him and smiled.

 


End file.
